A Mother's Love
by Durriken
Summary: A series of one-shots about Konoha's deadliest, number one mother, Kushina Uzumaki.
1. Chapter 1

A Mother's Love

Chapter 1: Little One

* * *

This was it.

It was going to happen today, in probably just a few hours—it was going to happen and there was no way she was going to be ready for it. She couldn't be, she wouldn't be, _how_ could she be? Knowing that it was nothing more than a simple evolutionary happenstance that was naturally going to occur did nothing to prepare her for the prospect of it _actually_ happening.

Would it happen all at once? Would she be able to capture it perfectly in mind? How long would it last? In which room would it even occur—and on that note, should she carry around a chair, just in case? A light one that she can unfold in a blink so she doesn't miss a single second?

Just looking at him was sending her heart into palpitations, her fingers tightened over the safety railing to the point where her knuckles began to whiten.

Should she wake him? Try to get a jump start on the proceedings…?

No. No, of course not, she was being silly, and uncharacteristically impulsive. He needed his rest, this was nothing to rush after all; he would do it, and he would do it in spectacular fashion.

Why?

As Kushina looked down at the bundle of covers and the little pink-fleshed, blonde-haired baby boy wrapped in them, something warm and all-consuming began to swell behind her chest.

"Because you are destined for great things, little one."

* * *

A/N: I like the version of Kushina that's in A Mother's Sword, so I'm using her again, because I can, because she's awesome. To be honest, I don't have a set-in-stone route for this story, mostly a series one-offs, so we'll see where it goes.


	2. Chapter 2

A Mother's Love

Chapter 2: Little Tenant

* * *

"So this is what we're doing? Okay, this is what we're do—where _exactly_ are you going, little one?"

Even though she knew asking the question would yield no satisfactory answer, her confusion needed to be vocalized. Because for the past ten minutes she had been following Naruto as he crawled determinedly across the rug, seemingly with some great destination in mind, one that she was extremely interested in discovering, only for him to hook a hard left or a u-turn and leave Kushina frozen, feeling played.

Regardless, she followed close behind, less than a step, pondering. Where was he leading her? Was it somewhere special? Perhaps a secret room of their house that she herself didn't know….

"I'm… intrigued. Lead me to your sanctuary, little one."

And so he did, charging forward with a newfound vigor, swerving around a ridiculously tall pile of books stacked in the doorway that led from the kitchen to the living room. Kushina eyed the stack as she passed. Titles such as ' _From Crawling to Running'_ and ' _Walking: You'll Get Tired Before They Do_ ' popped out among the other twenty or so hastily bought tomes on handling your baby's first steps, all of them read and reread in the span of four days. She even had expansive sticky notes posted here and there around the house.

In the back of her head, Kushina realized that some might think this a bit extreme (especially the little drawings accompanying each sticky note) but then again, nobody in all of Konoha possessed the sort of child that she did. And she wasn't even thinking along the lines of the standard 'oh, my baby's special because he's got my genes'—no, she meant it literally.

There was no other child like Naruto.

"But that won't be what defines your character, will it?" she whispered, scooping the blonde-haired bundle into her arms. As usual, Naruto turned into a giggling mess when her intensely focused eyes met his and he reached out with those chubby arms of his, reaching for her face. It was almost comical how she deftly avoided his clutching fingers with a ghost of a smile. "No, no, little one, remember the last time you grabbed my face?"

Judging by the way Naruto burp-giggled, he clearly did, and Kushina nodded.

"That's right you do. I couldn't chew straight for three days."

For some odd reason, this seemed to really tickle Naruto because despite Kushina being deathly serious, his laughter pitched.

"Oh, you find that funny, do you? Well, of course you would, but I need you to do me a favor, little one," she whispered, and while her slender fingers sifted through Naruto's groping hands, she used a nail to softly trace the seal around his naval. "I need you to tell your annoying tenant to not do that again, okay?"

The tenant Kushina referred to was the _Kyūbi_ , a nine-tailed demon of immense power that happened to fester within her child. Over the past few months, following some intensive study, she had come to realize a great many things about the _Kyūbi_ and the effects its miasmic chakra seemed to have over Naruto.

For one, since she had not died along with her husband on that day so long ago, the strength of the sealing jutsu used was nowhere near as proficient as she hoped it would be. Given the circumstances, she would have gladly traded the debilitating wound in her side and her life to have the seal working as strongly as intended. But her husband… the renowned Fourth Hokage….

"You idiot…."

She was no longer seeing Naruto as he fussed in her hold, the house around her seemed to melt away into nothingness until the same chill that had engulfed them on that fateful day was all she felt. She would remember it until her dying breath, the way she threw herself in front of Naruto to protect him, the way she was prepared to see the end to ensure he had a beginning… and the way Minato appeared behind her, hastily shoving her off to the side.

The wound a few inches to the left of her stomach gave a mind-numbing throb, almost as if it too remembered what happened next, the sensation of being gutted with her husband by one of the _Kyūbi's_ talons. Ultimately, she had survived, but of course she had. The Uzumaki's were well-known for their vitality and longevity, and Kushina herself had been especially regarded for possessing an exorbitant amount of chakra that granted her immense strength and an innate healing prowess. Surviving wasn't a concern for her, it was an inevitability unless her heartbeat was silenced.

"Your mother is a rather tough cookie," she said, offering up a single finger for Naruto to finally grip.

And when he did, and when she heard that unsettling ' _crack',_ Kushina automatically knew her finger had been fractured. The pain was tolerable, she was used to it after having had every single one of her fingers crushed at least once or twice by Naruto thus far, so she was able to shrug it off and merely enjoy the delight shining in his eyes.

That was another peculiarity about her child. She wasn't so sure if it was due to his naturally innate chakra or because the seal wasn't as strong as it could be, but Naruto frequently exhibited flashes of inhuman strength coated with the _Kyūbi's_ chakra. After having her fingers crushed, Kushina surmised that those flashes usually occurred whenever he was extremely excited or happy, which he seemed to be every time he saw her.

While his hands were busy playing with her limp finger, Kushina brought her nose to Naruto's, smothering him in eskimo kisses that sent him into a giggling mess.

"Yes, little one, I love you, too."

A mother's love….

Kushina believed it to be one of the strongest forms of love that existed, and she knew it was the key to keeping her little ones' tenant at bay. Currently, this ridiculous level of strength being used to break her bones was the most she had seen of the _Kyūbi's_ power seeping into and mixing with Naruto's. And that was okay, perfectly manageable. He would grow, and with experience he would gain control of his little tenant; with her love and guidance, there would be nothing to stand in his way. She could already see all the great things in store for Naruto, all the wonderful ways he was going to change the shinobi world for the better.

Unfortunately, just as she saw all the great, she also foresaw all the glass he would undoubtedly have to cross over as there were a great many that she knew wanted to see her child harmed. She knew this, it was expected. From the moment her husband sacrificed his life to ensure both of theirs, Kushina knew there would be a dark backlash, and she was right—several prominent voices had already rang together in their desire to see Naruto killed. They cobbled up all kinds of reasons why he didn't deserve the life Minato had died to give him and the insults they used were some of the most colorful she had ever heard.

Yet Kushina accepted it all. In fact, she welcomed them to try. And that was she said of the matter, though her words carried enough threatening intent to effectively silence the raging yells down to mere whimpers.

There would undoubtedly be opposition for every facet of Naruto's life, that was just the reality. An overwhelming majority saw him as nothing more than a demon, a plague, a blight over Konohagakure. Ignorance and fear had understandably blinded them to the fact that Naruto himself was not a monster.

"But that's why I'm here, isn't it? To remind them. And remind them I shall." Kushina reclaimed her useless finger and extended her arm. A second later, her chakra ignited itself in a burst of wind that mended her precious digit like new. "There we go, all better," she cooed, setting Naruto on the floor again. "Now, where is your secret, little one?"

Confused to find himself back on the ground, Naruto spun in a circle then took off back toward the living room.

Kushina followed just behind him, as his guardian, his shelter.

As his mother.

"We're going to have a great journey, Naruto."


End file.
